Phillip Phillips leads this week's Idol Meter

After Wednesday's American Idol performances, Phillip Phillips tops USA TODAY's Idol Meter. In addition to picking a clever song choice in Usher's U Got It Bad and getting lots of praise from the judges, Phillip made a big social-media impact. "Phillip won the Twitter longevity sweepstakes by a mile, more than double the trending time of anyone else," Ken Barnes notes.

Following Phillip on the Meter: Joshua Ledet and Skylar Laine. Elise Testone, who chose hits by Alicia Keys and Marvin Gaye, had the low score. "She was very good, very restrained on No One, but just the opposite on Let's Get It On, oversinging, maybe a bit desperately," Ken writes. "Still, could you imagine Jessica, Skylar or Hollie trying to sing this song?"

On a side note, DialIdol predicts that Phillip, Joshua and Skylar will be safe tonight, with the other four singers at risk of being eliminated.

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About Brian Mansfield

Nashville-based Brian Mansfield began writing about music for USA TODAY in 1997 and took over Idol Chatter just before the start of Season 8. He co-authored Make Me a Star: Industry Insiders Reveal How to Make It in Music, and while he has never auditioned for American Idol, he did sing Boot Scootin' Boogie at Disney World's American Idol Experience the day the attraction opened (he lost). More about Brian | E-mail Brian